1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a two-cylinder V-type OHV engine for outboard motors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a V-type OHV engine e.g. in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H07-293268, in which a timing gear formed coaxially and integrally with a camshaft and a crank gear disposed coaxially with a crankshaft are meshed with each other such that torque from the crankshaft is transmitted to the camshaft via the timing gear and the crank gear, whereby the camshaft is substantially directly driven by the crankshaft.
However, in the V-type OHV engine proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H07-293268, both the timing gear and the crank gear tend to be large in size due to the need for meshing of the two gears, which causes not only an increase in the size of the engine, but also an increase in the weight of the camshaft itself. This is disadvantageous particularly when the V-type OHV engine is installed in an outboard motor which strongly requires downsizing. In view of the problem, it is essential to provide measures for minimizing an increase in the width of the engine.